Tamil Heritage

[George Thompson]

In a message dated 9/15/99 10:50:41 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
vishalagarwal at HOTMAIL.COM writes:

> Vishal replies: Clearly, Mr. Madhuresan is referring to Shatpatha Brahman
>  3.1.2.21 ("Asnamyeva aham amsalam chedabhavati iti")
>  In their 'Vedic Index', MacDonnel and Keith mistranslate it (as is usual
>  with most of their works) and state--"The great sage Yajnavalkya was wont
to
>  eat the meat of milch cows and bullocks if only it was amsala ('firm' or
>  'tender')"
>  The translation and its interpretation is totally wrong and a look at the
>  context (and also the Sayana Bhashya) suggests that Yajnavalkya meant milk
>  and milk products, not meat.

Bold unsubstantiated remarks like this come pouring forth so frequently from
Vishal Agarwal these days that I seldom stop to comment.  But, purely by
chance,
 this one caught my eye.

I see no reason to reject the interpretation of Macdonell and Keith in this
matter.  The native tradition has been trying to re-interpret Yajnavalkya's
remark ever since he made it. By all means, please, look at the context
again. ZB 3.2.1.21 becomes *pointless* if we interpret *aMsala'* as a
reference to milk products.  Yajnavalya's iconoclasm is, so to say,
*emasculated* by such an obviously 'politically correct' re-interpretation of
Yajnavalkya's remark. Yajnayalkya was a free-thinker and a meat-eater and a
man with a refreshing sense of humor.

Vishal Agarwal in the past has urged us to search the list's archives for
previous discussions. I recommend the same procedure to him.


>  For details, refer pg 212-214 of the following anonymous work : "A review
of
>  'Beef in Ancient India' " published by Geeta Press, Gorakhpur (1971)
>  Many similar passages in the Vedic literature are considered in this
booklet
>  and their correct meaning ascertained with the help of Vyakarana, Ayurveda
>  etc.

Anyone who denies that the eating of meat was common practice in the Vedic
period is, well, impenetrable.

Best wishes,

George Thompson